La Bene Vita

On Internet Writing

I spent my morning reading reviews of Textbroker.com, where a writer who earns at least a Level 4 rating can earn a decent freelance income. Opinions from both customers and authors vary, but generally speaking, the reviews are good. I personally earned enough Textbroker income to receive a 1099 last year, and I wrote all the articles in my spare time and with minimal research. While not nearly enough to live on, I could have, for example, replaced my laptop with my Textbroker income.

However, I stumbled across an article that contradicts the value of Textbroker, lumping it with other Internet "content mills" whose sole purpose in life is to maximize SEO and lead Google searchers to your website:

http://www.wolf-howl.com/seo/is-your-schlock-writing-dismembering-infants/

I love this article. Every article you read about SEO reports that "content is king." But everyone knows it, so websites publish more and more content every day. Blogging used to be the future of writing. Like any market, supply and demand drives the success of blogging, and these days, bloggers outnumber readers. When supply exceeds demand, competition for buyers gets fierce.

I should know. I've been trying to sell my house for two years.

I originally searched for Textbroker reviews because I was mulling over the company's successful business plan. I enjoy writing for them, but I would be happier running my own writing-related business, so I was evaluating their model. I'm not sure if the web content business is on the upswing or downswing, but the wolf-howl.com blogger opines that it will decline at some point. I see the logic in his argument, which makes me wonder if I missed that boat already (as a business owner, not a writer. I think I still have plenty of earning power at Textbroker.)

On the other hand, he suggests it's not the sheer volume alone diluting the readership of Internet content, but the substandard quality. Society will always have readers, and the number of readers has not decreased. People may at some point be willing to pay for good writing again, possibly in the form of subscriptions to high-quality content sites.

It's an interesting paradigm shift, since I've considered the book industry fading due to the popularity of Internet content. I'm not sure I agree that subscriptions are the future of the reading business, since a number of huge corporate sites already own reputations as "the" homes for quality content (e.g., Yahoo and Huffington Post.)

I'm still watching the market, but I'm not ready to get in yet. Maybe once my music school business earns me a substantial income and grows to several campuses, I might consider investing in the business of reading. As another entertainment venue, it's not so different from what I already do and would fit my portfolio nicely.

Heh. My "portfolio" - like I have a whole collection of businesses.

IN OTHER CAREER NEWS: Tonight I have an audition with a band. Not sure if we're a fit - the last singer was sort of a hard-core belter, and that's not really my style. She had some accuracy problems, too, though, and they might like my polish. *shrug* We'll see if it's my path. Meanwhile, my church is hiring a new worship leader, and I may consider the position. *considers*

Reach 300 students at MTMS   by 12/31/11.
Starting to climb: 212 at the close of business last night.

Writing:
(1) Blog at MT.com   by the end of Wednesday: Heh. More content?

(2) 30 minutes of daily freestyle writing:The huge introduction to this blog post should count, but I think I meant fiction or songwriting when I devised this goal.

Count points:
TODAY: 8
6 Mini-bagel with cream cheese
2 Coffee